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E Cuniculi

I feel terrible. I noticed a while back that my old bunny of 5yrs head was slightly tilting... i just put this down to old age... is was when i went to feed her today that i noticed her head was alot worse... rushed her to the vets and he said it is possible she has E.Cuniculi... i had never even heard of this before..... he is treating her with Pancur.... and anitbiotics.... he said that he cannot confirm this as she may have an ear infection or had a stroke.....she is very bad though,... i cannot beleive how bad her tilt is... and much worse it has got since yesterday....in the vets she could not even stand, she kept rolling on her back,,..... I have been checking her thoughtout the day and she is on her feet and eating.... I have another bunny in the same cage as her... she seems fine... whats the prognosis?? I feel so bad.... I think we all know about flystrike and myxi, but i have never even heard of this parasite.... any advise will be greatfully recieved... I am so worried about going to see her in her cage tomorrow incase she has passed away...


worried and feeling guilty...
 
Ecunil tips!

Hi my female lop was diagnoised with this 6 months ago It is really upseting seeing them having a fit, my Rabbit is on panacur for life, we havce tried giving her a break from the Panacur but the fits and rolling return. My vets have prescribed me some valium for her if she has a fit that goes on for longer than normal. I think its Handy to have.Apparently after a fit they will probably have a headache, It is really good to put then under a bed or something where they feel hiden, it must also be as dark as possible so that they can relax. Hope this is of use to you.
 
Hi my female lop was diagnoised with this 6 months ago It is really upseting seeing them having a fit, my Rabbit is on panacur for life, we havce tried giving her a break from the Panacur but the fits and rolling return. My vets have prescribed me some valium for her if she has a fit that goes on for longer than normal. I think its Handy to have.Apparently after a fit they will probably have a headache, It is really good to put then under a bed or something where they feel hiden, it must also be as dark as possible so that they can relax. Hope this is of use to you.
They can go onto to lead normal lives with the panacur, but the parasite can not be gotten rid of only sedated.Thats why its good to catch it as early as possible.As long as your Rabbit is happy and eating and the fits are being managed with medication you will be fine.
 
I was so pleased that she was still here today, so i am very hopeful that she will recover, although as people have kindly pointed out she may have to be treated for life for it.. she is eating and drinking, its just so distressing to see her.. she really looks rather freaky! her head is badly tilted to one side, and when hold her she looks weird with her head tilted so obvioulsy.... cant say i have seen her fit.... but when i place her down she cant stand first of all and will roll over and then takes a bit of time before she can stand...wish i had heard of this dredful condition, so i could of taken her to the vet when she first showed signs....and not put it down to her getting old... thankyou all for your comments....

melanie
 
My rabbit was diagnosed with EC over a year ago, and she's perfectly happy. With medication it's possible your bun will be around quite happily for years yet :D
 
Digger started with head tilt 3 weeks back, vet said E,c and given panacur for 9 days, which i have now ordered off internet for ongoing treatment. Vet said no ear trouble has she gave him a good checkup at the time. His head is virtually back to normal, and unless you knew him well you wouldn't probably notice. Only thing i've noticd since then is he has become slightly incontent by weeing in his bed area at night. Like you i didn't know what it was and i was gutted at first and felt so guilty. Sending you healing vibes for your bun for a speedy recovery.
 
more Ec

Don't be too frightened-- our bunny got Ec-- hindleg paralysis-- it was horrid to see-- but on Panacur, with Metacam to reduce the symptoms, he is almost entirely back to normal hopping about. The Metacam really made all the difference--the anti inflammatory reduces the damage --
But he has cataract and corneal ulcers now so it's good to keep get advice right away if you see any eye problems. Best wishes, Shebunkin
 
Hi,
My bun Mimi has just recovered from a head tilt. Hers was due to an inner ear infection so Im glad your vets going down the antibiotic route aswell. Mimi was really bad, her head was tilted atleast 90 degrees and she rolled uncontrollably for 4 weeks :shock: She got worse before she got better. It was auwful and I questioned whether she would get through it but miraculously she did.
Heres some tips:
1) Can she clean herself properly and reach her caecotropes (sp) without losign balance? If not you will need to feed her her caecotropes by hand (bit of a smelly job but necessary) and check her twice daily to ensure her back end is clean. Mimi used to get alot of urine on her back legs and then roll in it, aswell as getting caecopoops stuck to her, so we washed her twice a day with a flannel and some warm water with a tiny drop of baby shampoo and then dried as much as possible.
2) If the head tilt is severe Id advise getting some visco tears or similar off your vet to keep her eyes lubricated. I washed Mimis eyes everyday and applied lubrication twice a day as their eyes are very prone to irritation and infection, especially the one thats near the ground.
3) If the rolling starts to get uncontrollable you may have to confine her to a cage that is padded with soft bedding and boulstered with rolled up towels. Unfortunately e had to do this with Mimi to prevent her from hurting herself. She was seperated from her husbun Timmy (he was getting kicked by her when she rolled) but I let him into the cage a few times a day to see her and groom her. They didnt lose their bond :)
4) Keeping her cool is essential, especially while shes rolling which must be exhausting.
5) Keep her eating with her favourite foods, and offer her water from a bowl frequently as she might not beable to get to it herself.

Hope that helps. Just wanted to say aswell, that mimi was on meclozine, which is a himan anti-vertigo drug, aswell to help with the dizzyness. It is not licensed for buns but is commonly used in head tilt buns so maybe mention it to your vet.

Good luck, I know how hard it is but keep the faith! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
As Gemma says this can be an inner ear infection too, and that is often not diasgnosable by inspecting the ear.
Stick with the antibiotics too, they worked for my bun very well, although a long course is necessary.
 
Is the bun getting metacam and fluds as well/ They need an antiinflammatiry (metacam) whether it is EC or ear infection, an fluids injected as they do not drink enough when tilted.

I have had 4 EC head tilts and all went on to full recoveries - only one has had recurrences.
 
My bun has E.C I've been told Metacam for 7 days is this enough or would you say he needs to be on it longer?
 
My bun has E.C I've been told Metacam for 7 days is this enough or would you say he needs to be on it longer?

I always continue with the metacam for 28 days along with the panacur, but not sure how long it is really supose to continue, never thought to ask :?
 
Help

:cry: I just became a member because i have been searching for help for my rabbit. I came home one day to find her moving her eyes back and forth and twitching her head... she was upright though. I rushed her to the vet and she stayed overnight... They released her to me today and when i went to go bring her home the vet said she may have a bacteria or parisite that is causing her to roll uncontrolibly. She has a loss of balance and cant stand up. Here eyes also constantly move back and forth. she is on medicine every 12 hours and and we are syringe feeding her CRITICAL CARE FEED the vet gave us every 5 hours ( because she is not eating pellets ) along with syringe feeding her WATER every hour... she has eaten a couple carrots. The vet said we should see improvement within a couple of days. What worries me is that she was worse when i brought her home than when i dropped her off at the vet. Also the vet didnt say anything about an ear infection... but im reading and everything says that the head tilt is caused by an ear infection :( : ( please any advice would help. I raised her since she was a baby and cant stand to loose her! it breaks my heart and im crying as i type this because i dont like to see her like this!
~Angie
 
:cry: I just became a member because i have been searching for help for my rabbit. I came home one day to find her moving her eyes back and forth and twitching her head... she was upright though. I rushed her to the vet and she stayed overnight... They released her to me today and when i went to go bring her home the vet said she may have a bacteria or parisite that is causing her to roll uncontrolibly. She has a loss of balance and cant stand up. Here eyes also constantly move back and forth. she is on medicine every 12 hours and and we are syringe feeding her CRITICAL CARE FEED the vet gave us every 5 hours ( because she is not eating pellets ) along with syringe feeding her WATER every hour... she has eaten a couple carrots. The vet said we should see improvement within a couple of days. What worries me is that she was worse when i brought her home than when i dropped her off at the vet. Also the vet didnt say anything about an ear infection... but im reading and everything says that the head tilt is caused by an ear infection :( : ( please any advice would help. I raised her since she was a baby and cant stand to loose her! it breaks my heart and im crying as i type this because i dont like to see her like this!
~Angie

I have replied on your new thread

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?p=4128246#post4128246
 
Bunny with E.C- Hind Limb Paralysis

Hey there,

We have a two year old mini-lop whom the Vet has just diagnosed with EC.
She has lost partial use in her legs, and the vet said this is down to muscle loss. With Panacur, we can see a slight improvement, and hope that the rest of the course will help her on her way.

What I wanted to know was whether there are any particular foods that she can eat to help her re-build the muscles in her legs?
The good thing is that she does seem to be eating like a champion. Hopefully she will be our Fatty-lop in no time!

Thanks.
 
we lost our danelion to E.c a few years ago, i had only had him a year :cry: He was PTS after having a course of pancur. Although i now feel that he shouldnt have been PTS as he actully wasnt that bad. I now HATE that vet. :cry::cry::cry:

I hope your bunny gets better soon :wave:
 
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